Is Activity-Resource-based View (ARBV) the New Theory of the Firm for Creating Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Services Firms?

Dr. Dr. Hanningtone Gaya PhD; Prof Miemie Struwig

Authors

Dr. Dr. Hanningtone Gaya PhD
Prof Miemie Struwig

Keywords:

activity-resource based view, activity drivers, and sustainable competitive advantage, activity and resource-based view; sustainable competitive advan

Abstract

This paper advocates the extension of the resource based view (RBV) by proposing a new theory to understand the actual creation process of sustainable competitive advantage using a services firm in the motor industry in Kenya as a case, by integrating the activity-based view (ABV) with the RBV, through activity drivers, to generate a new theory: Activity-resourcebased view (ARBV). A qualitative case study of a consistently high performing firm in the motor services industry in Kenya was used to determine if the ARBV assists in creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The results from the in depth semi-structured qualitative case study shows that a firm in a motor service industry that adopts the new theory, ARBV, will generate and sustain a competitive advantage for itself.

Downloads

How to Cite

Is Activity-Resource-based View (ARBV) the New Theory of the Firm for Creating Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Services Firms?. (2016). Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 16(19), 33-45. https://journalofbusiness.org/index.php/GJMBR/article/view/

Download Citation

Author Biography

Dr. Dr. Hanningtone Gaya PhD

Dr. Hanningtone Gaya is a scholar and academic affiliated with Riara University in Nairobi, Kenya. He holds a PhD in EBS and has made significant contributions to strategic management, especially through the development of the Activity-Resource-Based View (ARBV) theory. His research focuses on sources of sustainable competitive advantage in services firms, with key publications including 'Is Activity-Resource-Based View (ARBV) the New Theory of the Firm for Creating Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Services Firms?', 'Towards Parsimony in Terminology used in the Value Creating Process for Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage: The Activity-Resource-Based View (ARBV) Perspective', and 'Tangible Resources are the First Step in the Value Creation Process of Sources of Sustainable Competitive Advantage in a Services Firm: An Activity-Resource-Based View (ARBV) Theory?'. He also explores qualitative single case study methodology in strategic management.

References

Craig Armstrong, Katsuhiko Shimizu (2007) A Review of Approaches to Empirical Research on the Resource-Based View of the Firm†. 33(6), 959-986. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206307307645

Jay Barney (2001) Is the Resource-Based "View" a Useful Perspective for Strategic Management Research? Yes. 26(1), 41-56. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.4011938

Jay Barney (2002) Strategic management: From informed conversation to academic discipline. 16(2), 53-57. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2002.7173521

Barney JB, Arikan AM (2001) The resource-based view: Origins and implications.

Jay Barney, Mike Wright, David Ketchen (2001) The resource-based view of the firm: Ten years after 1991. 27(6), 625-641. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630102700601

Val Clulow, Carol Barry, Julie Gerstman (2007) The resource‐based view and value: the customer‐based view of the firm. 31(1), 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/03090590710721718

Clulow V, Gerstman J, Barry C (2003) The resource‐based view and sustainable competitive advantage: the case of a financial services firm. 27(5), 220-232.

Jerker Denrell, Christina Fang, Sidney Winter (2003) The economics of strategic opportunity. 24(10), 977-990. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.341

M. Easterby-Smith, R. Thorpe, P. Jackson (2009) Management Research.

Nicolai Foss, Thorbjørn Knudsen (2003) The resource‐based tangle: towards a sustainable explanation of competitive advantage. 24(4), 291-307. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.1122

H. Gaya, M. Struwig, E. Smith (2013) Creating a sustainable competitive advantage at a high performing firm in Kenya. 7(21).

R. Grant (2010) Contemporary strategy analysis. 2.

Haberberg A, Rieple A (2008) Strategic management: Theory and application.

Cwl Hill, G. Jones (2009) Strategic management: An integrated approach.

M. Hitt, R. Ireland, R. Hoskisson (2007) Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization.

David Hoopes, Tammy Madsen, Gordon Walker (2003) Guest editors' introduction to the special issue: why is there a resource‐based view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity. 24(10), 889-902. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.356

Jeroen Kraaijenbrink, J-C Spender, Aard Groen (2010) The Resource-Based View: A Review and Assessment of Its Critiques. 36(1), 349-372. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206309350775

Andy Lockett, Steve Thompson, Uta Morgenstern (2009) The development of the resource‐based view of the firm: A critical appraisal. 11(1), 9-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2008.00252.x

Lynch R (2009) Strategic management.

Merriam SB (1998) Qualitative research and case study applications in education.

Danny Miller (2003) An asymmetry‐based view of advantage: towards an attainable sustainability. 24(10), 961-976. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.316

Scott Newbert (2007) Empirical research on the resource‐based view of the firm: an assessment and suggestions for future research. 28(2), 121-146. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.573

J. Pearce, R. Robinson (2011) Strategic management: formulation, implementation and control of competitive strategy.

Margaret Peteraf, Jay Barney (2003) Unraveling the resource-based tangle. 24(4), 309-323. https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.1126

Michael Porter (1991) Towards a dynamic theory of strategy. 12(S2), 95-117. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250121008

M. Porter (2004) Competitive advantage: Creating and sustaining superior performance.

Richard Priem, John Butler (2001) Is the Resource-Based "View" a Useful Perspective for Strategic Management Research?. 26(1), 22-40. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.4011928

Gautam Ray, Jay Barney, Waleed Muhanna (2004) Capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: choosing the dependent variable in empirical tests of the resource‐based view. 25(1), 23-37. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.366

Ron Sanchez (2008) A scientific critique of the resource-base view (RBV) in strategy theory, with competence-based remedies for the RBV's conceptual deficiencies and logic problems. 3-78.

Sheehan NT, Foss NJ (2007) Enhancing the prescriptiveness of the resource‐based view through Porterian activity analysis. 45(3), 450-461.

David Sirmon, Michael Hitt, R. Ireland (2007) Managing Firm Resources in Dynamic Environments to Create Value: Looking Inside the Black Box. 32(1), 273-292. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.23466005

Nicolaj Siggelkow (2007) Persuasion With Case Studies. 50(1), 20-24. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24160882

David Teece (2007) Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. 28(13), 1319-1350. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640

A. Thompson, M. Peteraf, J. Gamble, A. Strickland (2012) Crafting and Executing Strategy: Concepts and Cases.

T. Wheelen, J. Hunger (2010) Strategic management and business policy.

R. Yin (2009) Case study research: Design and methods.